Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

Devon County Council highways officers are to investigate road safety improvements on the main road through Colaton Raleigh, following yesterday’s highways and traffic orders committee.

I asked that the issue come before committee after a meeting with a member of the parish council, Janice Papworth and a highways officer back in August.

The road, which runs between Newton Poppleford and Budleigh Salterton, is heavily trafficked and travels through Colaton Raleigh at a point where it gets very narrow.

The main problems are that the road bisects the village and its amenities. A bus stop, the shop and the Otter Inn pub are all on the main road, for example.

Another difficulty is that the junction to Hawkerland is on the opposite side of the road. There is an industrial estate on this country lane and articulated lorries are frequently turning into this lane and causing serious risks to pedestrians and horse riders.

The issue that most worries me is the bus stop. Twice a day around 30 schoolchildren have to cross the road to and from the bus stop, but the visibility is so poor from the Newton Poppleford direction that the children send a scout into the middle of the road before the rest of them cross. It is horribly dangerous and Janice and I are very worried about this and the other problems.

The officers’ report indicated that speeding wasn’t a particular problem based on previous traffic surveys, however, the community speedwatch data is very different. It is finding that around every 10 minutes someone is breaching the speed limit of 30mph.

I had invited parish councillor, Janice Papworth to the meeting, who spoke very persuasively.

The report’s recommendation was simply to note the outcome of the speed survey, however, using the above arguments I proposed successfully for another official traffic survey and for officers to come up with some other road safety design options. I have offered to help fund the cost of designs via my locality budget.

Former county councillor for Colaton Raleigh, Christine Channon, spoke in support of my proposal and there was general backing for what I was saying around the room.

Chair, Stuart Hughes, was enormously helpful at the end of the agenda item in encouraging highways officers to take this course of action.

Many thanks to the committee for their support. Especially Christine Channon and Stuart Hughes.

Pic: The main road through Colaton Raleigh, between Budleigh Salterton and Newton Poppleford.

Comments

1. At 02:46 pm on 01th Dec Roland Craven wrote:

The obvious question about this and similar all over Devon is….How and why was planning granted in the light of such predictable consequences? What were highways thinking - or not.

2. At 09:06 pm on 02th Dec Eric Tregurtha wrote:

Thank you, Claire, for your support. I have lived in Colaton Raleigh for 10 years, now, and there has been a huge increase in traffic volume and a massive increase in the size of commercial and farm vehicles in this time. It would have been inconceivable that such vehicles would be turning from the Exmouth Road into Hawkerland Road which is a mere country lane. Because of cars parking in Hawkerland Road, and they have no choice, it is dangerous for pedestrians at the junction with Exmouth Road, plus most drivers turning into Hawkerland Road do NOT take due care and thereby put pedestrians in serious danger. We have no pavements so that many drivers do not take this into account. Speed of many vehicles is a further serious factor. The small Industrial Estate further along Hawkerland Road, now has many more vehicles, including several articulated lorries from Europe. Planners could not have envisaged such a change. In my view, the way to make this safe now, would be to develop unmetalled bridle ways from the Exmouth Road (opposite Dotton Lane) to the rear of the Industrial Estate and thereby avoiding the serious dangers along the Hawkerland Road. In order to achieve this, however, we will need a few deaths - how many do you need so that you can extract the necessary finances? I am not joking, but over the past few decades that is how I have seen that several such problems have been resolved. Please continue to help us, Claire. Many thanks.

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About Claire

I am the Devon County Councillor for the Ottery St Mary area, with a special interest in health and environmental issues.
A public relations freelancer since 2008, I have lived in East Devon all my life and in the Ottery area since May 2006. I have one teenage daughter.
I am also the Woodland Trust Tree Champion for Devon.
My hobbies are latin dancing, reading, cycling, politics and walking in the countryside.